Entrepreneurship & Education #304

Jean Hoffman:

I am not a person who dislikes conflict. I actually really like conflict. Not for the sake of doing battle, but for instance in a company in environment. I like different points of view coming out because that's how you arrive at the best decision.

Xavier Botana:

I think that that's the only way to do that. Obviously engaging with the political entities that make those decisions, the school board first, the city council, and ultimately with voters, is, you know, an important part of the mix.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This is Dr. Lisa Belisle and you are listening to Love Maine radio show number 300, Entrepreneurship and Education, airing for the first time on Sunday, July 16, 2017. Sometimes it takes a willingness to engage in conflict and work our way through difficult situations in order to succeed. Today we discuss this idea with executive and entrepreneur Gene Hoffman, who was recently featured in Maine magazine's 50 Mainers issue. We also speak with Portland Public Schools Superintendent Javier Botana. Thank you for joining us.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

who is an executive and entrepreneur who is who has built successful companies in the global pharmaceutical, veterinary and healthcare information technology industries. In 2006, she founded Putney, a Portland based pet medicine company that was sold last year for $200 million. Well, I'm impressed. Thanks for coming in.

Jean Hoffman:

Thanks for having me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You also happen to be one of our 50 Mainers this year for Maine Magazine, so congratulations on that honor. Thank you.

Jean Hoffman:

It is an honor. I'm looking forward to seeing who the other 49 are this year.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Tell me about your company. Tell me why you decided that you wanted to go into pet medicine.

Jean Hoffman:

I had been in the pharmaceutical industry actually my entire career and so Putney was the second company I built here in Portland, Maine and the first one was also healthcare information technology and the information was related to Pharmaceuticals. And with selling that company, it was the hit sector was consolidating. And the information we provided helped companies find niche products that were more profitable, had less competition on a global basis. So I wanted to take that expertise and develop a company that did that type of product. And I looked at a number of places where I thought there would be product opportunities and found a great opportunity in pet medicine where there was no successful generic drug company, but pet owners, as many, many of you know, spend a lot of money on their pet family members, and very few people have insurance. And so there was a real opportunity to provide lower cost generic drugs for pets, just like people are using for their prescription drugs for their human family members that are saving the US Health care system so many billions of dollars.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What was your. Was there an aha moment? Did you, were you a pet owner yourself? Where did you come to this realization that this was where you wanted to focus your energies?

Jean Hoffman:

Well, it was driven by two things, and one was a cat. I had some years back, one of our early adopted cats who in his old age developed hyperthyroidism, which is common in cats. And he required medication initially once a day and then twice a day. And there was, at the time he first went on this medication, no generic, and it was a human drug. So it was initially $30 a month for my cat and then $60 a month for my cat, which is a lot of money for many people. And I knew that the product could be generic, and eventually it was generic as a human drug. So that was part of it. And then the other part of it was, as I mentioned, that I saw this opportunity to build a company that provided cost savings and really provided a great service to pet owners so they could afford to care for their pets. So it was both an attractive financial opportunity and driven by this love of my cat and the understanding that lots of people love their pets.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How did you decide that you wanted to go into business?

Jean Hoffman:

That's an interesting question. Because I come from a family. I'm from Washington, D.C. i come from a family of writers, editors. My brother writes books. And so it was not the expected course, but I majored in East Asian history at Bowdoin, and I was really interested in China, and I had learned Chinese. And so I went back to D.C. and my first job that I got was at a quasi governmental organization that was assisting US Companies wanting to open up business with China. And being the lowest person on that totem pole. When I was hired as a kid right out of Bowdoin, I was assigned to lead a Chinese delegation around the US that no one wanted. And they were a bunch of chemical engineers running pharmaceutical factories in China. And that's really how I got in. I took these people all around the US and they reciprocated by inviting me to visit their facilities in China and Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturing of what's called the API, the active pharmaceutical ingredient that makes the drug work. These factories were located in the Chinese hinterlands for security reasons and Westerners were not allowed. But because these high level Communist party members had invited me and I was not a chemical engineer and not a chemist and 22 years old and not really a threat to anybody, I was allowed to go visit. And it was an incredible opportunity to learn and, and build connections. And that was the start of my career long involvement in the pharmaceutical industry.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You went to Bowdoin at a time when there were not that many women because they had only recently integrated.

Jean Hoffman:

This is true. Joni Benoit and I were in the class of 1979 and that's a really long time ago.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And they also. I'm not sure that all the men that went to Bowdoin at that time necessarily wanted women to be introduced to their college. Is that fair to say?

Jean Hoffman:

They all wanted women to be introduced. Whether they wanted them as equal members in their fraternities and to really have women as equals in 50% of the campus, that would be the question.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So tell me what that was like as a learning environment for you as a starting out as a 17 year old.

Jean Hoffman:

Well, I think that it actually helped me to become tougher in ways that were helpful because Bowdoin was not my tribe and I didn't fully become conscious of that until after I left. And you know, years later, like many people, I sort of figured out more about who my tribe was and built connections on a global basis and looked back perhaps more insightfully than I had looked at things when I was 18 and starting Bowdoin. But I think it made me tougher. It was a place where I was pretty different from most of the people, certainly the prevailing group at Bowdoin. And it wasn't, it was in many ways hostile, you know, to be. I think the male female ratio when I started was 4 to 1. I hadn't realized that when I applied. But I think it overall was helpful in making me tougher because as a woman in business and the businesses I've been in, the roles I've had have always been pioneering, groundbreaking, entrepreneurial, building things, fighting battles. So, you know, being in a hostile environment with a Tribe that wasn't mine was actually really helpful.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Some people don't like conflict. Some people don't like the having to be in a hostile environment. Is this something that you. Well, I don't want to say liked, but is it something that you felt comfortable enough that you could actually grow within it rather than recede within yourself?

Jean Hoffman:

That's a really perceptive observation. And I am not a person who dislikes conflict. I actually really like conflict, not for the sake of doing battle, but for instance, in a company environment. I like different points of view coming out because that's how you arrive at the best decision in terms of targeting markets. If you don't have conflict, you're not going against or creating a bit. You're not going against a competitor or creating a big opportunity, you know, to just accept things as they are, grow incrementally, go along with the crowd has zero interest for me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So in some ways, even though they weren't your tribe, it was kind of a perfect place for you to be at Bowdoin at the time.

Jean Hoffman:

I hesitate to agree with you on perfect, but I learned a lot, and I guess I would agree that there are so many opportunities in any situation to make the best of it and to learn and to triumph individually, not over other people, but in terms of your own development. And I've always welcomed those opportunities and cherish that kind of characteristic in other people. And I think that's part of how we succeeded at Putney is we built a whole team of people who loved nothing more than overcoming obstacles, you know, intellectual challenges, things that hadn't been done before, tough submissions and regulations at the fda. You know, how do you figure that out and do it to a really excellent level where you can succeed? You know, the people who love doing that are the people who built the company. And, you know, that's very much how I am. You know, bring it on. Let's take that hill.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

As I'm listening to you talk about these situations you are in, you describe fortuitously becoming involved in Chinese industry, and China has now has subsequently become really well known as a worldwide leader in industry. But back when you were doing this, I don't think that people recognize that that was the case.

Jean Hoffman:

You're right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And then also health information technology, which I'm thinking that when you were doing this, we were still doing paper charts up until about 20 years ago. So health information technology was also still new and not recognized, I think, quite yet as being what it was going to become. And then pet pharmaceuticals, which now we all say, oh, of course. But you're talking about just consistently bumping up against things that didn't exist yet as being important and still being willing to, I guess, feel your way through.

Jean Hoffman:

I sought those out, yes, at Newport, which was the first company I built in healthcare information technology. I used to describe our chief competitor as two of them. Paper files and in your head. So we really were doing something new and bringing a computerized database with proprietary algorithms and data to enable people to search for information that previously they might have found or kept on paper files or had in their head. And so, yes, it was revolutionary and that made it fun.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

There's also a need to be, in addition to being willing to deal with conflict, there's also a need to be collaborative and persuasive because if you're dealing with health information technology, you're also dealing with people who are kind of happy with the status quo. I mean, I've worked within the health field now for two decades, and I know that there are still people who wish that we were back on paper charts.

Jean Hoffman:

Well, we weren't dealing with charts and we weren't dealing with healthcare providers. We were providing information on pharmaceutical manufacturing, patent sales to pharmaceutical companies. So you're particularly right when your business impacts consumers and patients and providers who are serving them. And that is an area where much greater sensitivity is needed and there are far greater implications in terms of HIPAA or prior to hipaa, people's confidentiality and risk of, you know, treatment not being documented. So very important point, particularly in that area. But certainly, yes, I have described the central dilemma and characteristics of an entrepreneur as being around how much to listen and how much to not listen and forge your own way. And that encompasses what you're talking about. Yes, you have to not only be collaborative, but you have to be able to inspire other people whom you're leading or working with. You have to inspire other people to take on your new thing, your new system to adopt your generic drugs for pets with when their vet practice is used to paying more and buying from the brand side and sucking up all of their information that they provide. So you have to convince people and therefore you have to be able to listen and understand their point of view. And at the same time, you have to be able to see the new way and chart that course for others to the new way. And so it's a very important combination of skills. Get it wrong and you can be a bully, I won't mention any now. Or you can be totally dragged down by the existing paradigm. So you have to have, I think, a unique fusion of those two characteristics. Malcolm Gladwell talks a lot about the characteristics of entrepreneurs and people who drive change and he's very perceptive on this subject.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What are you working on now? What is your latest business endeavor?

Jean Hoffman:

So I am investing and looking for, for investments in early stage companies. I'm also serving on some boards of directors and in discussions about other boards of directors. And I'm looking to help a number of companies at various stages, from startup to larger companies in a board role. I'm looking to help a number of companies except accelerate growth, which is what I really love.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What are the characteristics of these companies that you are seeking out now? What grabs you? What causes you to pay attention?

Jean Hoffman:

Always what's most important is the management team, the team of people.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And

Jean Hoffman:

that's really the number one, two and three thing, is the team of people. So one company I've invested in and joined the board of here in Portland is Med Rhythms, which was founded by two guys from Maine and is building a music therapy device and system for people with gait issues, issues in walking. And these guys are fabulous. And the company is focused on a very, very large need, a very large opportunity. They have unique technology and IP recently filed a patent. But it's really the capabilities and the talent of those two founders that interest me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So narrowing that down then what do you look for on a well functioning team or what do you look for in a leader, in an entrepreneur?

Jean Hoffman:

A lot of it is that combination that we just talked about where they both listen and don't listen, where they are inspired and unafraid. So a lack of fear is very important with the ability to manage risks and the vision to do something disruptive and big and build at the same time a very strong ability to listen in order to, to understand customer needs, understand the issues, understand the FDA requirements and certainly in pharma and many other, you know, health care situations, very important to understand and comply with the FDA and at the same time have the vision to build something big and great.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So just as you're describing an individual who has a certain combination, it must be also true that this team have a very specific set of characteristics.

Jean Hoffman:

Yes, it's true. Because one of the faults of entrepreneurs or of company leaders, leaders even of much larger companies, is excessive reliance on or power to one person. So I always look for people who balance each other out and can criticize each other. You know, you asked the question about being conflict diverse and so that ability to, to have conflict, that is productive is actually really important. And to do that, you have to have people who respect each other and listen to each other and are unafraid and actually welcome challenging each other. And that's a really important criteria and an important ingredient in success.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I'm not sure that we are actually helping people to learn how to deal with conflict in, I would say, in our current system. I know that's a big statement, but I think a lot of what I see in organizations is people who don't like conflict, instead of verbalizing it and trying to kind of muckle through it, they will pull back, they'll be passive aggressive, they'll leave. And I think part of this is that people don't have a comfort with the idea that it's okay. It is okay to actually feel differently than someone else, have a different idea than someone else.

Jean Hoffman:

I think that's extremely well said, and it's an extremely important point. Even the word conflict, it has kind of a negative connotation. I love conflict, but most people don't. And, you know, I grew up with lots of good arguments around the dinner table. And you are absolutely right that we. We don't necessarily teach people or welcome disagreement. Positive, constructive disagreement. And often, I think now the pendulum is sort of swinging excessively in the direction of teamwork. You know, you can waste a lot of time getting bogged down in trying to do things as a group instead of doing things in the most productive way possible and having the people who are best at doing things do them. And you can waste a lot of time not surfacing disagreements and get caught by things that someone down the line might have seen early on, but, you know, to your point, didn't bring up or didn't feel comfortable bringing up or didn't feel would be welcomed. So I think it's an excellent point.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So how do we get to the other side of that? How do we help people be able to work within this environment? Because as you've proven, it's an environment that can actually be very successful. And if it's successful for the company, it's likely to be successful for the individual and for the economy locally. So it's important to learn, I think so.

Jean Hoffman:

It's one of so many things right now that I don't have a good answer for. But I do think you need to pick leaders who have those characteristics. I think welcoming conflict and disagreement and asking questions to get to the bottom of the things are very important. Certainly a lot of success in life and behaviors go back to schools. And so if we have teachers who can. Great teachers. If I had to cite one thing that's most important in success in America, in, you know, building a successful workforce, I would say great teachers, great elementary school teachers.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You and I both have children and one of the things I think about often is how I want my children to exist in the world, whatever it is that I've given them foundationally, how I want them to, and they can do whatever they want. But there are certain things that I hope they've learned from me. What are things that you hope that your children have learned from you?

Jean Hoffman:

One of them would be that ability to both listen and hew to their own course. I would hope that both of my kids are good listeners and very perceptive about what's going on in the world

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

or around them

Jean Hoffman:

even, and in particular in unfamiliar situations. We've traveled a lot, so they've spent a lot of time visiting different countries and that's interesting on so many different levels. But I hope has honed their ability to listen and perceive in different cultural environments and learn from that. So that ability to both listen and choose, chart their own course. I have always hoped, most fundamentally for my kids, that they were each their own people, that they were smart, that they were kind, that they were tough, that they were good listeners and highly competent. But that most fundamentally that each of them figured out who they were as people and what they want to do and how they want to be and pursue that, not trying to be someone else or be influenced by someone else.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I agree. I hope that my children have exactly that. I think you and I are very kindred spirits on that point. So from from your lips to if there's a God, God's ears. How's that? I've been speaking with Gene Hoffman, who is an executive and entrepreneur who has built successful companies in the global pharmaceutical, veterinary and healthcare information technology industries, who in 2006 founded Putney, a Portland based pet medicine company that was sold last year for $200 million. You can read more about Jean in our 50 Mainers issue of Maine Magazine. Thanks so much for coming in.

Jean Hoffman:

Thank you. It's been a great pleasure.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

My next guest is Javier Botany, who has been the superintendent of Portland public schools since 2016. Before moving to Maine, Botana had been the associate superintendent of Michigan City area schools in Indiana since 2010. Thanks for coming in today.

Xavier Botana:

It's my pleasure.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You've actually. You've moved around quite a lot in your lifetime.

Xavier Botana:

I have.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Starting with your family being from Cuba.

Xavier Botana:

Yeah. So I was born in Cuba, so shortly after the Cuban Revolution. And like so many Cubans at the time, my family was in a situation where they really wanted to get out. So we left sort of in waves. My grandparents left first, and they went to Spain, and then a couple years later, my parents shipped me and my younger brother off to Spain to be reunited with my grandparents. And then when they were able to get permission to move to the U.S. they did. And then the whole family came over and we were reunited here. So we're like Cuban refugees, like so many other families that left at that time.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How old were you when you lived in Spain without your parents?

Xavier Botana:

I was two years old when I left Cuba. My younger brother was, like, just barely a year old.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And do you have any memory of Cuba?

Xavier Botana:

Only just growing up and, you know, dinner, Sunday dinner, conversations with my grandparents and. And their friends and all of the refugee community when they get together. So I have all of these mental images of Cuba, and obviously none, no real recollections because I was 2 years old.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And do you have recollection of living? I mean, I guess two. You probably wouldn't, but. Any recollections of being without your parents?

Xavier Botana:

No, not that. You know, nothing specific. I don't have a recollection. I mean, we always lived with my grandparents in a large extended family. So in many ways, my grandma was always the first point of, you know, first point of contact. My mom worked right away when we moved to the States. And so, you know, when we came home from school, when, you know, before we went to school, when we were, you know, just staying at home, it was with my grandma. We had an elderly aunt that also lived with us. There were, you know, like, eight of us in a Volkswagen Beetle. So it was a lot of fun getting around.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That's quite an image.

Xavier Botana:

Yeah. Yeah. And it was one of the old Volkswagen Beetles. They're much smaller than the current ones.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Where did you eventually end up? Where did your family end up?

Xavier Botana:

Chicago area. Chicago. In the Chicago area. In the south suburbs of Chicago. Chicago Heights, Park Forest, that area.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And there was. There were other people who had also been refugees from Cuba there as well.

Xavier Botana:

Yeah, it's an interesting sort of story about refugees. My parents got out and they came, like so many other people to Miami. And my Father was in Miami for a week and he decided that he needed to get out of Miami because there were too many Cubans. And then so we never had, like, big links to Miami. And then when he retired after working, you know, for 30 some years, he retired to Miami. So at that point, having lots of Cubans was a good thing.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That does seem to be the way that it works sometimes. Sort of the things that you don't think you want, and then you end up having them in the end.

Xavier Botana:

Yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How has this been helpful to you coming into the Portland schools? This understanding yourself of kind of carrying within you different cultures and kind of a complex family background?

Xavier Botana:

Yeah, I think it was instrumental in my seeking the job in the first place. I wanted to work in a place where there was a diverse community and there was a commitment to that community and to sort of understanding the value of having different people living together. And so I think that that was important for me. And I think it also was helpful for the selection process that, you know, I think that my story resonates with, you know, a lot of people in this community. My experiences are not completely unlike that of many of our students and their parents. You know, I think one of the things that, you know, sort of makes this really a great place for me is sort of understanding that that is the experience that our kids go through and knowing that education is the most vital institution in helping to sort of, you know, put all of that behind. And, you know, that's the reason that, you know, so many families come here because they want to have an education for their children that's not accessible where. Where they come from.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What was it like being in Michigan City, in Indiana?

Xavier Botana:

How did the school systems compare so size wise? It's a very similar school district. We have, you know, roughly 7,000 students. Michigan City has roughly 6,000 students. The population is different where we're incredibly diverse. We have, you know, a third of our kids come from a home where English is not the first language spoken. And we have kids from 60 different language groups. So it's a very multifaceted student population. Michigan City is more of a traditional blue collar. It's a former mill community, smaller in size than Portland, but, you know, obviously with more. With a larger percentage of children in the schools. It's about 80% free and reduced lunch, where Portland is about 50% free and reduced lunch. And the population is about half white and the other half is minority. But the overwhelming majority, 90% of the minority, is African American students. So it's a different kind of dynamics. But some of them are very. I mean, some of the things that. The challenges that we face are the challenges that we faced in Michigan City. So I think that there's lots of parallels. At the same time as that there's obviously some differences.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You've been in this new position for the past year, which it's been. I would imagine it's always an adjustment to move from one school system to the next. What are some of the things that have surprised you?

Xavier Botana:

So I think the things that have surprised me is how alike things are. Most of my career has been in urban settings and, you know, until Michigan city, always in larger school districts. So I worked in the Chicago public schools. I worked in Portland, Oregon, and those are obviously significantly larger systems, having worked for the past six years in Michigan City. And, you know, as I talked about some of those differences, I think one of the surprises is that, you know, some of the issues that we face in schools are, you know, are very similar. So I think that, you know, there's not that many days that I face something that I go like, wow, I've never dealt with that before. So I think that that's. That was a surprise. I thought I was going to have more situations where I'm like, I've never dealt with that before. I've never dealt with it in this context. The players are different, Sometimes the laws are different, but the issues are significantly alike. I think the other thing that has been a tremendous pleasant surprise is the level of engagement by the community at large in the public schools. This is a community where I've seen consistently that people believe in public schools and want to help. There are so many people that I meet on a daily basis that are just looking for, how can we help? And are already actively engaged in the schools and want to figure out how they can, you know, maximize their. The return on their investment in the school. So I think that that's been a really pleasant surprise, that I had a sense of that from, you know, knowing about Portland and Maine. But I've just been. Every day, I'm overwhelmed by that. So I think that that's been a surprise. I think the other surprise is the resource base for the schools. You know, I feel that there's never enough resources to do everything that we want to do, But I feel that this is a community and a state that invests in the schools in a way that it feels like the work is doable. We've been through a very difficult budget process over the past couple of months as we face some of our immediate realities. But the sort of. The underlying base of support for our schools is very strong at the resource level, which is, you know, again, that's a very important part of.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Seems like no matter where you go, budget becomes a very important part of the conversation because you're not only having, you're not only having to do what's fair for people in the community who have children, but also what's fair for people in the community who don't have children. How do you balance those needs?

Xavier Botana:

I mean, it's difficult. It's engaging with people. We are, you know, this evening we have a focus group with parents as part of our sort of developing a communications plan around what matters to this community about its public schools. So engaging with people at that level and sort of hearing what they like, what they'd like to see, what they don't like about the system. I think all of those pieces are, you know, the only way you get to that is by engaging with people. I had the opportunity to sit with a group of gentlemen who get together every Tuesday to talk about important issues in the community. Most of them are retired, successful, huge investment in the schools, but also obviously very concerned about making sure that that investment is being used wisely. So I think that that's the only way to do that. Obviously engaging with the political entities that make those decisions, the school board first, the city council, and ultimately with voters, is, you know, an important part of the mix. That's a surprise that I didn't mention earlier. The whole sort of the having to actually go to the voters for a decision on the budget at the end of the long process is something that's fairly unique to Maine.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How has it worked in other places that you've been?

Xavier Botana:

Generally the school board makes the decision and you know, obviously there's hearings and things along those lines, but not a referendum on the budget. The referendum on the budget is, and I've worked in, you know, four states and I've never, never seen that before.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I'm interested in also your connection to Maine that preceded your coming here to be employed by the city of Portland. You have a connection to Camp no Limits through your son David, who is now 14.

Xavier Botana:

Yep. He's a freshman at Casco Bay, but before that, since he was 2 years old, 3 years old, I think, was the first time that we found out about Camp no Limits and started coming here. So it's a. Camp no Limits is a non profit. It's a Maine based nonprofit started by an amazing young lady who lives up in The Lewiston area, who is a therapist and started working with children who had multiple limb anomalies and was just inspired and overwhelmed by what those kids were able to accomplish. And so she started this camp her first year. There were like three kids at the camp. And now they have like 15 camps all over the country. And the principal camp is the summer camp here in the Belgrade Lakes. And so over 300 campers from all over the country come out for that. And so that's what we started. When we started coming, there were maybe a hundred kids that, you know, just under 100 kids that were at the, at the camp. And so ever since we've been coming and that's been a big part of David developing his sense of self and his, you know, desire to overcome any challenges that are thrown his way. So it's been a tremendous part of his development and of our sort of coming together as a family. So we always loved coming up for that. And we would come through Portland on our way up and think, this is a really cool city. And then when, funny story, the way that I found out about the job is that I, because I worked in Portland, Oregon, I have a Google alert for news on education coming out of Portland and, and occasionally something from Portland, Maine is in there. And so I saw that the superintendent had left and so I just half jokingly asked my wife, would we be interested in moving to Maine? And she said, absolutely. And we talked to David and he said absolutely. And so that's kind of how that started.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So how does he like Casco Bay High School?

Xavier Botana:

He loves it. Yeah, he loves it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Did you ever think as you are driving through on your way up to the Belgrade lakes, oh, someday I may work here? Did you ever have a sense?

Xavier Botana:

Never really thought about it as working, but I do remember thinking, like, I'd love to spend more time there because we would just come through and stop, you know, restaurant, you know, that kind of thing, pick up somebody at the airport to bring them up to, to camp, things like that. So I remember thinking, it's a great looking city, you know, and knowing people that lived in the area, Everybody was really always very positive about the experience and you know, but we lived in the Midwest and didn't really think of, you know, it was great place to come to, but had never really stopped to think, like, yeah, I'd like to really work there. So it wasn't until the infamous Google

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

alert, so somebody somewhere up in the ether somehow sent you this message and you ended up here. So I guess we're fortunate that way?

Xavier Botana:

Well, I feel very fortunate that it totally does feel like it was meant to be.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Tell me why you decided that education would be your life's path. It's certainly not a path that's easy.

Xavier Botana:

Yeah, it's a good question. Both my parents were educators. Not originally, but when they came to the the US they both became. My mother became a high school Spanish teacher after doing other odd jobs as she, you know, built up her language and her credentialing. My father became a Spanish professor at a university. So that was, you know, always part of the. Part of the equation at home. I was not a great student in high school, and, you know, middle school and high school, I was, you know, somewhat disengaged and, you know, more rebellious than, you know, than sort of a great student. So in some ways, I'm not, you know, sort of the straight path that you think about education, but I always understood the importance of education. Education. Sort of the first adult, like, conversation that I remember was with my grandmother when I was maybe six or seven years old and talking about how difficult things had been for them, the older generation coming to the US because they did not have an education. And so my grandfather, who had been a business owner and had been very successful as working his way up in Cuba, lost everything and wound up working as a custodian at a hospital in the south suburbs of Chicago. And that was very difficult. He was, I would say, sort of, in retrospect, embittered by that experience. And at the same time, my parents, because they both had an education when they came, had a much easier path to finding their way into the middle class. And so that was the first time that I understood the importance and value of education. So that's kind of how it happened. I had teachers that I really loved in high school. Not many of them, but, you know, there were really inspirational people that, you know, helped you to think and helped you to see the world in ways that you. That you, you know, didn't think of before. And so I sort of. I always liked that part of it. And I love young people and being around young people, and I think that's what attracted me to education.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How do you go from being young and rebellious to getting the education you need to become an educator? And not only an educator, but someone who works in administration? Where does that happen?

Xavier Botana:

Yeah, the world takes lots of funny twists and turns. I can't tell you that. I didn't go into education to become a superintendent. In fact, for the longest time, I thought that would be the last place that I wanted to wind up. But you know, I just think over time, you know, again, I think sort of that reflection on what I. The teachers that I was attracted to were people that looked at the world and systems and saw what could be instead of what was. And I think that that's probably the best explanation that I can come up with. I would, you know, I'm somebody who as a young teacher questioned I was rebellious and you know, questioned why are we doing it this way and why are we doing it this way and we should really think about a different approach to things. And I think that that's what led me into administration also. I happened to be, I mean these are the sort of the circumstantial things. I happened to be a teacher in a community that was going through rapid demographic change. It was a community that had been extremely working class white community for a long time. And, and when I started I was an ESL teacher, I was one of three and within three years I was one of 40. So it was this massive influx of people moving out of the west side of Chicago into this community. And so they were looking around for people that could do leadership, take on leadership roles. And because I had a big mouth, I think they asked me to start doing some leadership work. And that's where I was coaching teachers. And you know, it just felt like this is you can make a difference, even if you're not working directly with kids, you can make a difference in kids lives.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So that was your chosen field was being an ESL teacher.

Xavier Botana:

Yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That's kind of interesting. So you've always been involved in kind of translating ideas amongst various groups, whether it's a linguistic idea or whether it's a social idea, a cultural idea. Yeah, I think, I love the fact that I actually think more rebels should go into things that are considered traditional because I think that there, it seems as though we have people, students who would benefit from being rebels, quite questioning rebels and having teachers who foster that and don't expect them to fit into the same.

Xavier Botana:

I think that's one of the things that also was very attractive to me about Portland is I think that there's a genuine desire to listen to young people and what they have to say and, and not to sort of rule it out, you know, just because they're young and inexperienced. So what we call student voice is, you know, very much a part of the Portland ethos and Portland Public Schools ethos. And I think that that's, that's something that, you know, that I believe in and I think one of the reasons that I think that this is a great place to live and it's a great place for kids to go to school.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What would you like to see happen in the Portland public schools now that, you know, coming up on a year, taking on this big job and it has been a school system in some transition itself, what would you like to see happen going forward?

Xavier Botana:

So I think one of the, you know, we've worked hard this first

Jean Hoffman:

sort

Xavier Botana:

of, first six months to develop a plan for our future. And so we articulated a set of goals that were approved by the board in December. And those I hope will be the foundation of our work for the long haul. I think that stability is very important to the district. I think it was very clear coming into the position that, you know, the district has suffered because of the transition at the top. So obviously nobody can, you know, can predict the future. But I, you know, as long as I, as long as people want me here, I want to be here. This is a great place to work. So I think that looking at that plan is something for the long haul, not something that we're going to do in two years and then we're going to go do something else, I think is really important. I think at the core of that plan is a commitment to equity. We do remarkably well with our middle class students. So when you compare our outcomes on traditional measures of achievement, SAT scores, things along those lines, kids that come to us from strong economic backgrounds, we do as well as the neighboring communities. So we compare to Yarmouth and Cape Elizabeth, places where people traditionally think of those. You move to those places because of the grade schools. So I think that that's something that a challenge for me is being able to get that message out in a way that it sort of resonates and it doesn't feel like, you know, we're just sort of reaching for straws. I think that's a challenge. But I think that the more important part, the piece that drives me the most is that, you know, that's not a shared experience for the children coming from low income backgrounds. And so, you know, that's obviously a challenge that everyone, everywhere is facing. So I don't have a magic bullet that I can, you know, but I think that that's a worthwhile pursuit for, for me, I think it's a worthwhile pursuit for this community because I do believe that with the level of engagement, the level of resources, the level of commitment to helping each other to grow and develop, I think that that's Something that's achievable here. And I think that we can be a model for what it takes to do that work in an urban school setting.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What do you do for fun?

Xavier Botana:

So I run. I have two German shepherds that love to go for long walks, so I do that. And my sort of my guilty pleasure is that I am a soccer fanatic. So I love European soccer and been known to sort of just, you know, watch three games in a row on a Sunday, you know, afternoon. So that kind of stuff.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So like Manchester United, Real Madrid, Liverpool and Barcelona. Excellent. Now that we've outed you, people are going to come find you and have conversations with you about the benefits of this. Yeah, well, I appreciate your coming in and having this conversation with me today. Any final thoughts as you. As you look forward into your own life?

Xavier Botana:

Well, I think that I have been so fortunate to wind up here in Portland and in Maine as a family. We feel like this is home, you know, having lived in the other Portland and, you know, sort of feeling like we didn't fit into the West Coast. We totally feel this is that this is home. So we're really looking forward to getting to see more of Maine. And, you know, there's people will say names of places and we're like, where is that? Where is that? And so looking forward to doing that and, you know, just looking forward to making a difference in this great city.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I've been speaking with Javier Butano, who is the superintendent of the Portland Public Schools. Thank you for coming in today. I know you have a busy schedule and thank you for the work that you're doing.

Xavier Botana:

Absolutely. Thank you. This has been a lot of fun.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You've been listening to Love Maine radio show number 304, entrepreneurship and education. Our guests have included Gene Hoffman and Javier Botana. Free on itunes. For a preview of each week's show, sign up for our E Newsletter and like our LoveMain Radio Facebook page. Follow me on Twitter as DRLISA and see our LoveMain Radio photos on Instagram. We love to hear from you, so please let us know what you think of Love Maine Radio. We welcome your suggestions for future shows. Also let our sponsors know that you have heard about them here. We are privileged that they enable us to bring Love Maine Radio to you each week. This is Dr. Lisa Belaya. I hope that you have enjoyed our entrepreneurship and education show. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your day. May you have a bountiful life.

[Unidentified voice]:

All is quiet on the western prom I hear the ground beneath my feet scrape and crackle as I move along There ain't nobody here but me but in a couple days that'll open of the gates and the streets of love With a thousand weights of evil victories Some helpless on their knees Some wander aimlessly throughout their days.